Will County Gazette

Will County Board Public Works & Transportation Committee met Nov. 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

I. CALL TO ORDER

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

Mr. Wesel led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

III. ROLL CALL

Chair Joe VanDuyne called the meeting to order at 9:02 AM

Attendee Name	Title	Status	Arrived
Joe VanDuyne	Chair	Present
Jim Richmond	Vice-Chair	Present
Elnalyn Costa	Member	Absent
Vince Logan	Member	Present
Sherry Williams	Member	Present

Present from the State's Attorney's Office: D. McGrath

Also Present: Chair Ogalla, S. Balich, J. Traynere, and K. Fladhammer

IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. WC Public Works & Transportation Committee - Regular Meeting - Oct 3, 2023 9:00 AM

RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Sherry Williams, Member SECONDER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

V. OLD BUSINESS

1. Status of Parker-Hadley Road (CH1) Jurisdictional Transfer

(Jeff Ronaldson)

Mr. Van Duyne stated under Old Business, the status of Parker Hadley Rd. Jurisdictional Transfer Agreement, if you are here for that discussion, a Public Comment will be available to you towards the end of the meeting.

Mr. Van Duyne stated I would like to open the Will County Public Works & Transportation Committee Regular Meeting to order at 9:02 a.m.

Mr. Ronaldson stated with Parker Rd. we have been discussing his project for a couple of months now, the Mayor and the Village of Homer Glen met with me and expressed their interest in taking over the road, we have been discussing that. On September 29, 2023, I submitted Jurisdictional Transfer Agreements (JTA) to IDOT for their review. Since then, Homer Glen has reached out to the Village of New Lenox and the New Lenox Town Road District regarding that south ½ mile, because it is outside of the actual municipal limits. They reached out to those entities to see if they would take over that ½ mile. I have since then had discussions with the Road Commissioner for the New Lenox Township Road District. He is willing to take over that south ½ mile, but he would like something in return; an overlay is what he would desire. My staff came up with a cost estimate, if we do the overlay, it would be about $185,000. My recommendation is not that we do the overlay for them, but that we give them one lump sum, once IDOT would execute the JTA. That way the Road Commissioner could overlay the road as part of his overlay program, and then we are out of it. We have not received comments back yet from IDOT on the JTA, they may take a little time. On October 24th I reached out to them again asking for the statis. On October 31st they finally gave us comments, they were minor, and we have addressed those and resubmitted back to IDOT November 1, for their final concurrence. Currently my plan with concurrence from the committee is in December to bring back those JTA, that would then turn over most of the road to the Village of Homer Glen within the municipal limits, then that south ½ mile over to the New Lenox Township Road District. Once we get the final comments back from IDOT I will send them to those two entities. Then to execute, and the plan would be for December for the County Board to approve them at that time. Then our phase of the project would close out, we have some things to finish that out, and then we would be done, and it would become their roadway. That is the status where the whole JTA thing is at, hopefully that will address a lot of comments that we have heard over the last few months. Are there any questions or comments on that?

Mr. Richmond stated this is just a point, we had talked about having a meeting in November and December regarding the project moving forward, so that residents, as far as they are concerned it is all going to be turned over to Homer Glen, so we know the paperwork is documented and then we will no longer be having any more conversations, it will then be held by Homer Glen.

Mr. Ronaldson stated that will be correct, we are shooting for the end of the year, once this turns over to the agencies, the Village and the Township, there will be no need for a meeting at that time.

Mr. Balich said with the Hadley Road Project the Township put in a JTA, I spoke to the State’s Attorney, and he gave me what his opinion was, and I disagree with his opinion. I told him it was up to a Judge to decide what is really the proper opinion. Anyway, I still have not formally been issued a notice that the Township was denied. I am looking for the denial before you can give the road to the next city. I am the Township Supervisor, and it is up to my Board as to whether we say fine, or we say we are going to take someone to court. The people on Hadley Road have no protection moving forward if the Village takes the road. The Village will not put that information into the documents, or at least they have not done it yet. The Townships duty is to protect the people within the Township, and they are within the Township. I am not sure how you will move forward on anything until the Township receives an official denial.

Mr. Ronaldson stated I have a voicemail from last week from the State’s Attorney’s Office. I don’t want to put words in the State’s Attorney’s mouth, but my opinion has also been that the Township cannot take a roadway within a municipality, I believe that is true. If that is the case, we can provide a formal denial as well if that is what the Township wants. We are proceeding forward with what I believe and understand is legally possible, which is turning the majority over to the Township of New Lenox.

Mr. McGrath stated I did speak to Mr. Balich a week or so ago and advised him that in my opinion and the opinion of the State’s Attorney’s Office they have no authority. But more important than my opinion or even the State’s Attorney’s opinion the statute is very clear. There is no gray, it is black and white, if it is a State Highway or a County Highway or a Municipality, within a municipal road system the Township can’t get the road and it is that simple. There is also case law; Mr. Balich wanted to Judge to weigh in on it, a few judges already have and made it very clear, the statute says what the statute says. Right now, it is part of the County Highway system so they can’t have access to it. If Homer Glen takes it and there is a joint transfer which the municipal Code specifically allows, so that is a different statute, but also allows the municipality to take over if there is an agreement by the County which there is in this case. Once IDOT approves it and the Village takes over there is nothing the Township can do, it is that simple. Filing a law suit would just be a waste of time and money in my opinion. I will be happy to answer any questions.

Mr. Balich stated my Attorneys have a different opinion than yours, and to move forward we need to have it in writing, saying that the Townships request was denied. They believe that there is a gray area in the law. As the Township Supervisor my duty is to protect all the residents in that area. Homer Glen is only 60%, there is Lockport, Lemont, New Lenox, and Unincorporated. If we can’t get it in writing, then I don’t see how we can move forward.

Mr. Van Duyne stated to Mr. Balich you need to understand at this committee, this is at the County level and our job is to protect the County and their interests. If Mr. McGrath says that this is what he believes, that is the advice that the committee must take. I don’t know if Mr. McGrath would be able to put that in writing or not, we can have that discussion.

Mr. Balich stated I have no official denial, nothing of record except for a conversation over the telephone, that is not acceptable.

Mr. McGrath stated the State Law says what the State Law says, it is not a matter of denying it. If the County wanted to grant it, we can’t it is that simple. This has been the law at least since 1965, where there has been a case that’s made this statement. It has been litigated as recently as 2008, if you want something on a piece of paper I will talk to Mr. Ronaldson, and we will see. The point is whether there is a piece of paper that says denied or not, I don’t even know what that means because we can’t grant it, we don’t have the authority to grant it.

Ms. Traynere said I have a question, I get the Hadley Rd. part, I didn’t quite catch on to what you are doing with Parker Rd.

Mr. Ronaldson stated the southern half mile of Parker Rd., the part just north of Rt. 6, is outside of the Village of Homer Glen limits, it is not even in Homer Township. The logical person to take it over would be the New Lenox vote district, it is within their township.

Ms. Traynere asked who has it now.

Mr. Ronaldson replied we do.

Ms. Traynere stated you are saying on the one hand that you can’t give Hadley Rd. and I get that because it is a municipality. But why would we give it to a township.

Mr. Ronaldson said because that ½ mile is not within any municipal limits, therefore it will go to the township.

Ms. Traynere asked why we don’t just keep it.

Mr. Ronaldson stated you don’t keep a ½ mile of County Highway hanging out there like that.

Mr. Ronaldson asked if he could have concurrence from the committee regarding the New Lenox Township request for $185,000, if you do concur, I will proceed with the agreement to that effect.

Mr. Van Duyne asked if that is the last step that needs to come in front of this committee.

Mr. Ronaldson stated I will bring it back next month in December with a resolution that details that along with the JTA itself.

Mr. Van Duyne asked the committee to concur with Mr. Ronaldson and want him to move forward with this agreement.

The Committee members stated yes.

Mr. Van Duyne said thank you both for your concern, for Mr. Balich and your update, and Mr. Ronaldson and Mr. McGrath. Is there any other old business to be brought forward to this committee. Let’s move on to new business then.

At this juncture Ms. Traynere left the meeting.

VI. OTHER OLD BUSINESS

VII. NEW BUSINESS

PUBLIC HEARING for Requesting Quick Take Powers for the Acquisition of Highway Right-of-Way for 143rd Street (CH 37) from State Street (Lemont Road) to West of Bell Road (CH 16)

Mr. Van Dyne stated we are now in the Public Hearing before we take questions and concerns, I would like to turn it over to Mr. Ronaldson to give us an update and some explanation that may answer a few questions that we may have in the gallery.

Mr. Ronaldson said please bear with me, I have a few notes here that I hope will answer a lot of questions. Number 1 the purpose of the Public Hearing is to provide the public opportunity to comment on kind of discussion of whether to take quick take legislation to the Spring Session for 143rd St. the reconstruction of that corridor. The proceeding is not about the merits of the project, that was discussed in the Phase I process, which culminated in a project development report, and is also not to talk about the impacts of the project to the individual properties. That will be handled by our negotiators that we have hired, that will be talking to the property owners in the very near future. Regarding quick take, we have discussed this as a committee a couple of times, there was a memo on that in September for detail on that. I am going to go through quicky the normal plan process so that you can understand what quick take means. For the County when we acquire property, we first get a title report, to define ownership of the property. We then develop tax and legals that define the area that the County needs to acquire to build a project. We then obtain appraisals that establish the planned value for the part that we are taking. In the federal process we also hire and get review appraisals, so it is like that twice as was in this case. Then we hire a negotiator to go out and meet with the property owners to discuss the impacts of the property and extend the County’s offer. That happens regardless of whether we go for a quick take or not. All that has happened and is happening. Then from there if a settlement cannot be reached between the County and the negotiator then we go through Eminent Domain, which is our normal process which is essentially going to court and working that out to come to a final judgment. That process of Eminent Domain can take about three years in many cases and that delays the project significantly and delays us getting the safety improvements out there and helps to increase costs, each year of a delay is increased construction costs. Quick Take itself is a different process, largely the same all the court stuff happens, the only thing different is instead of the County obtaining the property at the very end of the process, a preliminary compensation amount is established up front. Then the County pays the property owner that amount established by the Judge often our appraisal, and then the County takes ownership of that property. Then we can proceed with the project; however, the rest of the court proceedings can continue if the property owner is not happy with that amount or thinks they are entitled to more, all the rest of the remaining court proceedings do happen. They do have the opportunity to go before a jury and work out a different settlement price. If it comes out being more the County pays more in the end. But in this process the property owner is paid up front and the County takes ownership up front. The difference is with Quick Take we must go to a State Legislator every time and every single project. To do that we need the County Boards approval, and we would then do that in the Spring, if allowed by the County Board. This discussion is about whether the County sees the merit in moving forward with the legislation for this project. With that I will turn it back over to the Chair to take comments.

Mr. Van Duyne said as it was stated this Public Hearing is if the public would like to make a statement to the County Board Public Works & Transportation Committee regarding whether we ask the State Legislators to proceed with Quick Take. We cannot do it on our own, the Committee must decide whether we want the State Legislators to continue with the process. Does anyone wish to speak on that item alone? I will start with Cristy Nahser, please come down to the microphone. The way this works, for the record we would like you to introduce yourself, state your name and then speak into the microphone.

Ms. Nahser stated I own Chrislin Farm on 143rd St. in Homer Glen. I have 31 acres there, I am right across from Reed School. I feel first this whole idea of widening the road to five lanes is not something that this area needs, even though it is a county road. I-355 allows people to come off there very quickly, there is a squeeze process with a couple of lights, if people come off I-355 and come down right in front of my house they are still doing 60 to 70 miles per hour right in front of the school. I know you are talking about the Quick Take process, I own over 1,000 square feet on 143rd. I’ve been told if they do this and take my land, they will move the fence and will not put my fence back up until after the project is completed, I do have livestock, so it must be put up immediately. Also, I’m thinking that this whole area that you are talking about with widening the road is full of little farmette’s, people with larger parcels of land, it is the area of Homer Glen that allows farmette’s and a whole mix of all different types of people living in houses, farms, and industry and things like that. This is the area that is the open space and think it needs to stay the farmette’s. I think it could go to 3-lanes, which would be fine, if you have a turn lane and it would slow it down a bit and you will still get your traffic moving through. A lot of people come through I-355 and cut through to Orland Park. I think it should be slowed down and moved to 3-lanes. I’m from Burr Ridge originally, and I was on County Line Rd. there on 5 acres. They wanted to widen County Line Rd., which is north of Plainfield Rd. just north of I-55. My father, mother and I fought to keep it from widening the road on a County Road. When we did that, they stayed in the two lanes, and they then also kept the speed limit slow. As a result of my family and a couple of other people fighting to keep it to two lanes on County Line Rd. instead of being moved to four lanes. The real estate in that area increased, it became an area from Plainfield Rd. North, that area was very desirable, and it increased in value. I think you guys are missing the mark to slow people down in this area, it is going to increase the value, be a safety situation and it reduces people cutting through from I-355 to Orland Park and cutting through and then going south to and hitting I-80. I think you guys need to think of that considering it is maybe a moot point at this point. I have also talked to the police force too and they think that going to the 5 lanes of where we are is going to be just awful for accidents along that area. We have a lot of elderly people, I’m one of them that goes slowly into our driveway and people are right on our butts and hitting the horn. My last thing is that if you go to 5-lanes in front of my house and I have a full trailer of horses and I am trying to pull out against two lanes of traffic going one way and I am trying to hit that super medium in the center to get on and go to the east I could be in a major accident because I am not going to be able to see, people are going to be speeding along that way. So, it’s a safety issue along that way, it really is. The other thing is taking over that land acquisition, it might be happening, but you must have my fence put in before you do anything, you can’t just take it out and wait for the project to be done, I have no safety, no safety whatsoever.

Mr. Van Duyne said thank you for coming in to speak. Next, we have Mary Woods.

Ms. Woods stated I live on 143rd St. and Oak, is it going to be going to 4-lanes in front of my house? She is saying 5-lanes, I live right on the corner, so I know they are taking 15 foot of my property which is driveway trees and flowers. Then I know you are taking Oak St. from what I hear there is supposed to be a turn lane there, what are you taking. You hear so much from everybody I don’t know is it 15 feet, how much are you taking of Oak St., am I going to be compensated for this land that you are taking because you’re going to be practically up to my living room.

Mr. Ronaldson stated Mr. Chairman, may in interject a quick moment on this issue. All these impact questions, a negotiator will meet with you at your property and go over with you the impacts of how far in and what the roadway improvement looks like and how many lanes, where is the turn lane, 5-lanes just means two lanes in each direction, and a turn lane in the middle. But for specifics about your property, the negotiator is going to reach out to you in the very near future and go over it. All the little things in our plan show how it is going to impact on your property. That will be happening very soon, we don’t have those answers here today, we are just talking about the quick take legislation, but those particulars about the project, you will hear about them very soon, if not please contact my office. I guarantee the negotiator will be reaching out very soon.

Ms. Woods said thank you.

Mr. Van Duyne said before we move on, there are a lot of folks that might not be able to hear, and out in the hallway there might not be enough seating. It is my suggestion that we take a recess, there is a bigger room to use for this meeting.

Ms. Cooke stated I need to verify that we can, I don’t see a problem but give me some time. Nobody can get into that room for a few minutes.

Mr. Van Duyne said we do have a room with more comfortable seating, and I want to make sure everybody can hear and to at least sit down and be part of this discussion. We will move on to the next speaker and then if we do get the other section open, we will take a quick recess and meander over there and we will get started right back. Next up we have Roman Bryja.

Mr. Bryja stated my name is Roman Bryja and this is my wife, we are the owner of the property on 143rd Street. I have a question because I want to sell our property, but we can’t. I will explain why from the beginning. We bought this land in January of this year, and we want to do an entrance, but Mr. Kyle told me you can’t sell this land you have to give us a donation of 4 feet. Mr. Eric knows this situation, and Mr. Kyle and nobody wants to help us.

Mrs. Bryja stated before we purchased the lot, I called to Will County and I knew it, that this street was going to be widening in the future, it was so nice and easy being told if you purchase the land after you want to do anything on the land like some permit, it is easy you will make a note and send it to the Will County, pay for the permit. But when we purchased it and I knew there was no entrance to the property, Eric knew that there was no entrance to the land. But he told us there was no problem, you can get the permit at Will County, after the purchase and we wanted to do something then the problem started. Kyle from Will County said that you must give us the 60 feet for free of your land, then you can get the permit so you can have the entrance. For a couple of months, we couldn’t do anything, and our children were walking close to the road to get to our property, because you cannot park on 143rd St. because it is not safe. Everyone is saying something different on the phone, we have many emails and proof. Now you want our property to get it like you want to buy. Someone before told us we gave it for free.

Mr. Van Duyne said this situation came up in a different location in Will County. The County Board worked closely with staff to rectify the situation. The resident was paid for his property, this is a little different situation on why the Public Hearing was opened.

Mr. Bryja said in front of our property it is (inaudible) it covers almost 80% of our property. My neighbor’s entrance sticks out in front of our property. We don’t have a place when you widen the road, you don’t have a place for the entrance. This is your plan in what I have. Another thing, if I get an entrance and I leave my property and try connection on the south side of 143rd Street in the middle it is six inches tall. I can’t turn left, I can only turn to the right side. I have a pick-up truck and an RV that is 34 feet. Another thing is the storm water, you want to make a pipeline, move storm water to our side of the property. Then this water goes to my neighbor’s land and comes back from mine. You made a flood zone on my property. Another thing, if I give you my land or sell my land, power lines and gas lines will be on your property. Now it stays in the middle, if I sell you this land so I need to get a permit again. I have proof that Will County doesn’t want to give me a permit.

Ms. Bryja said we just pay taxes now, we can’t do anything on our property.

Mr. Bryja said you are doing R-1 zoning which is residential zoning. We pay taxes for R-1 zoning, we can’t get an entrance that is safe. Nobody wants to talk with us.

Mr. Van Duyne stated I would like Mr. Ronaldson and Staff to get together and have a meeting about this property. I will make a personal effort to talk to Mr. Ronaldson and his staff to find the truth of the matter and hopefully with the work of your County Board members in your district we can get to gather and find some kind of solution for that.

Mr. Van Duyne said at this time I would like to make a motion for a 10-minute recess. Motion by Richardson and seconded by Mitchell for the 10-minute recess, with a unanimous vote to recess.

Mr. Van Duyne stated he would like to make a motion to end our recess and continue with our Public Works & Transportation Committee.

Motion by Williams, seconded by Logan.

Roll Call, with Richmond, Logan, Williams, and Van Duyne all voting yes.

Mr. Ray Alcore stated my wife’s father owns some property on 143rd St. and Cedar Rd. It is the entrance to Spring Creek Woods, my first question was we had gotten a lot of information about the process of this project, we had meetings at the schools, and we were being kept in the loop. It’s been over three years since I have talked to anyone from the County, or that we have received any information as to where this project is going. I am curious as to whether it is stalled, I know that the funding was there at the time, but in that interim 159th St. was completed. If anyone takes 159th St. east, it is now a super highway, people are doing 65 miles per hour. It alleviated a lot of traffic coming off I-355 and a lot of the problems that were associated with trying to head east. Now that 159th is a super highway I am curious as to whether 143rd needs to be turned into a 5-lane road, or even a 4-lane road with bike paths. I am wondering if this project has been revisited since there is more information on how people can get around. It seems like it is a moot point to put a 6-lane or 5-lane highway on 143rd now that 159th has alleviated a lot of our traffic.

Mr. Van Duyne said as our Director of Transportation said earlier, any specifics toward the project, the negotiator will be contacting the property owner moving forward. This strictly is for you to tell the committee whether you would like us to continue with asking our State Legislator to Quick Take property.

Mr. Alcore said I am curious about the meetings, did they cease or did we just not get information on them.

Mr. Van Duyne stated I am sure that the Will County Department of Transportation has followed every rule that they need to, and they are always encouraged to let the public know on every aspect of every project.

Mr. Alcore stated our personal decision is we don’t want Quick Take, if you are counting votes my wife and I are a no.

Mr. Van Duyne asked if there was anyone else wishing to speak during the Public Hearing.

Mr. Van Dyne stated I will entertain a motion to close the Public Hearing.

Moved by Mr. Richardson, seconded by Ms. Williams with an all-in favor vote to close the Public Hearing.

Mr. Van Duyne announced that the Public Hearing is now closed.

RESULT: OPENED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Sherry Williams, Member SECONDER: Vince Logan, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

1. Requesting Quick Take Powers for the Acquisition of Highway Right-Of-Way for 143Rd Street (CH 37) from State Street (Lemont Road) to West of Bell Road (CH 16) District #4

(Jeff Ronaldson)

RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] TO: Will County Board MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

Authorizing Approval of Supplemental Professional Services Agreement for Construction Engineering Services (Phase III) with Gonzalez Companies, LLC F.K.A., ESI Consultants, Ltd. for the Reconstruction of the Bridge on Cedar Road (CH 4), County Board District #4

(Jeff Ronaldson)

RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] Next: 11/16/2023 9:30 AM TO: Will County Board MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

2. Authorizing Additional Construction Engineering Services by County Under the IL Highway Code for Cedar Road (CH 4) Over Spring Creek, Using MFT Funds, ($220,199.00) County Board District #4

(Jeff Ronaldson)

RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] Next: 11/16/2023 9:30 AM TO: Will County Board MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

2. Authorizing Approval of Supplemental Professional Services Agreement for Construction Engineering Services (Phase III) with Gonzalez Companies, LLC F.K.A., ESI Consultants, Ltd. for the Reconstruction of the Bridge on Cedar Road (CH 4), County Board District #4

(Jeff Ronaldson)

RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] Next: 11/16/2023 9:30 AM TO: Will County Board MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

3. Authorizing Approval of Professional Services Agreement for Design Engineering (Phase I/II) with Ciorba Group, Inc., for Green Garden Township Road District, County Board Districts #2 and #3

(Jeff Ronaldson)

RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] Next: 11/16/2023 9:30 AM TO: Will County Board MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

4. Improvement by County Under the IL Highway Code for the Countywide Concrete Repairs, Using Additional MFT Funds ($133,586.50), All County Board Districts

(Jeff Ronaldson)

RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] Next: 11/16/2023 9:30 AM TO: Will County Board MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

5. Authorizing Approval of an Amended IDOT - County Joint Agreement for Improvements on Cedar Road (CH 4) Over Spring Creek, County Board District #4 (Jeff Ronaldson)

RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] Next: 11/16/2023 9:30 AM TO: Will County Board MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

6. Authorizing Approval of Expenditure Using MFT Funds ($142,236.65) for Improvements on Cedar Road (CH 4) Over (Spring Creek) County Board District #4

(Jeff Ronaldson)

RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] Next: 11/16/2023 9:30 AM TO: Will County Board MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

7. Confirming Award of Contract to Bulk Storage, Inc. ($1,213,566.00), Let on October 18, 2023, Caton Farm Maintenance Facility Salt Dome, County Board District #5

(Jeff Ronaldson)

RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] Next: 11/16/2023 9:30 AM TO: Will County Board MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

8. Resolution for Improvements by County Under the IL Highway Code for the Caton Farm Maintenance Facility Salt Dome, County Board District #5, Using MFT Funds ($1,335,000.00)

(Jeff Ronaldson)

Ms. Williams asked if this had started already, it said there was an estimated start date of April.

Mr. Ronaldson stated the date of April 2023 is incorrect, the construction will begin next year.

Mr. Van Duyne stated I was looking through the agenda, could you briefly describe the Salt Dome for the committee, I know sometimes they have been going away from a permanent structure and using something lightweight and more temporary to save money. Is that the case in this situation?

Mr. Ronaldson said in the case of this situation, the dome serves the Weber Rd. corridor and the more urban multi lane facilities up in the northern part of the county. The dome we built back in 2001-time frame is of a smaller design, it does not have the capacity to properly manage those roadways, we are asking that we build that as the same size as the Laraway Rd. facility which is permanent.

RESULT: MOVED FORWARD [UNANIMOUS] Next: 11/16/2023 9:30 AM TO: Will County Board MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

VIII. OTHER NEW BUSINESS

Mr. Balich stated I have a problem with what is happening in Homer Glen and Homer Township; what I see going on is there are different road projects that basically want to move traffic from the express ways into Orland Park and then into different areas of Cook County. There is Hadley Rd. that has been apposed to for 4 to 5 months. Now 143rd St. is coming up and I know on that road many people have driveways that come off Hadley Rd., those are the people who are affected by that. When you look at 143rd St. it will become a truck route going straight up to Orland Park, we don’t have a need for a Truck Route in Homer Glen. I have been east of Bell Rd. and that project has already been completed, but there are no driveways on that road, they have subdivision entrances that connect to that road. What road is going to be next, are they going to make 151st a truck route, or 167th St. a truck route? There is a point in time where you have to say, just because you have warehouses; you have expressways behind you and you want to move traffic because that is the duty of IDOT, to move that traffic as fast as they can. We can’t have detrimental things happening to people that have lived there for a very long time. It is frustrating when we look at the big picture, it is a mix of farms and some businesses and now we are going to have truck routes everywhere, is that what we really want? The people of Homer Glen don’t, and neither do the people in the unincorporated Will County don’t want it, the people in Lockport are upset as well because their subdivisions are getting runed from the trucks in the area. I don’t think we should move forward until we can come up with a logical way to handle this situation. This all started about 7 years ago, and they were going to put in raised barriers along 143rd St. I am not an engineer, but I took the time to research it and came up with something that was just as safe as raised barriers and it was called a too wide left turn lane. If we left it with two lanes with one lane in the middle; that way both sides, use the left turn lane.

Mr. Van Duyne stated I do know that this committee along with the County Board every year will pass a Five-Year Transportation Improvement Program. I believe the committee did that earlier this year which covered the years from 2023 to 2028. Everybody on this committee and everyone on the County Board could make those statements and vote yes or no to the entire program. I’m sure Mr. Ronaldson will be able to pull that up and see when those items were put on the program.

Mr. Balich stated I agree, until recently I never saw the County try to make truck routes in Homer Glen, I never even thought of that. Now I am seeing that this is what is going on, that we want to make various truck routes and the people of Homer Glen don’t like it. When we are looking at the twenty-year plan or the five-year plan, it doesn't go into all the detail. I am looking at right now, and where I live, and where I represent as a County Board member it is not good. I know in some of your districts this hasn’t happened yet, but if it is happening here then it will soon happen to other districts as well.

Chair Ogalla said this is the second time in two months that we have had a situation come up regarding donation of land for access to their property. I would like to ask you to add it to the agenda next month. We need to decide on how we want to handle that going forward.

Mr. Van Duyne said I do think we need to sit down and establish a process where both departments can work cohesively.

IX. DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION DISCUSSION

Mr. Ronaldson said the Wilmington/Peotone Road Corridor, the county has initiated a Pell Study and looked at the needs of that area. It is a 25-mph corridor commuting I-55 and I 57. Also, to advise the committee in December will be our initial public meetings for that project. One will be on December 6th at the Wilmington City Hall from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. A second meeting at the High School will be held December 13th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. I will be introducing the project and start taking the initial comments, and what we need the Wilmington/Peotone Corridor to look like.

Mr. Van Duyne asked if this would include the 4.5-mile stretch from I-53 to I-55 known as River Road. If we truly want to move traffic from I-57 to I-55 will that stretch of road be included.

Mr. Ronaldson confirmed that it will be included in the study. We will look at that to see if there are any additional improvements needed above what we already have.

X. STATE'S ATTORNEY DISCUSSION

XI. MONTHLY WORK REPORTS

1. Construction Status Report

(Jeff Ronaldson)

2. Maintenance Status Report

(Jeff Ronaldson)

3. Phase II Construction Summary Report

(Jeff Ronaldson)

XII. REPORTS BY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

XIII. PUBLIC COMMENT

Ms. Heidi Pacella stated I am an advocate for the people on the 4-mile corridor, at the Hadley/Parker Rd. Project. I am here to speak about that, there are a lot of people against it. Mr. Ronaldson has answered my questions. When the Village gets a Jurisdictional Transfer are they allowed to transfer it to the Township if they wanted to?

Mr. Van Duyne said thank you for your question, just for some housekeeping rules, typically under Public Comment there is no interaction between the Board members, Staff, and the Public. I will tell you that staff will stick around after the meeting and try to answer any questions that you may have.

Ms. Pacella said I also have been listening to the conversation on 143rd project which is also equally disturbing. I work for an intermodal trucking company, I can tell you, you don’t want to mix 18 wheelers with 4 wheelers. It is not a good idea, widening roads just invites truck traffic. I deal with truck accidents all the time, my operators drive daily from the rails in Chicago, they are not over the road drivers. When they go on the roads that they are not supposed to be on they receive a ticket. If you would keep these trucks off the roads, the roads stay safer, and there are plenty of roads that are designated for truck traffic. When you do redo a road, what is the reason and the purpose for it, is it for the cars, or is it for the trucks? This area that has been mentioned, there is a lot of land and farms, that is why people move to these areas. When you make changes, you are disturbing the natural eco system, there is natural drainage, there are mature trees that we can’t ever get back. When you do the transportation plan every five years, does anyone ever think about 50 to 100 years from now, we might not even have trucks. These roads are going to be here for nothing, we are putting cement everywhere, and development is getting out of control. I grew up in the transportation business, I know that roads are important, but people’s property and their livelihood is important too. As far as transparency, is keeping people updated when these projects happen on the roadway where they live, how do people find out about this, not everyone knows about your transportation plan unless it is happening to you at that moment.

Ms. Judith Slegpicka said I live off 143rd and King Rd.; my driveway is right off King Rd. I appreciate all the comments that were made, I don’t have much to add except one thing that I think is important. Are we here to represent the businesses or the residents of the community. I would like my taxes to be lowered, and everything else, but I also don’t want to cater to the truckers and warehouses off I-355. There was a fatal accident that happened right near my driveway last summer. I think there is one thing that we could do, possibly the committee oversees that, I don’t know, but why don’t we lower the speed limit, we don’t need it to be 45 mph down 143rd Street. If you are going 45 you are going to slow for the person behind, you. They are doing 50 to 55 mph without a problem. On 159th St. it is now a great place for commercial traffic, we don’t need on 143rd St. it is mainly a residential area. If we lower the speed limit to 35 or possibility 25 mph, then trucks would not want to use that road. I want to thank the committee, this is the first time I’ve attended one of these sessions. I have been a resident of my home here in Homer Glen for the past 55 years. Thank you for your time and remember you have a very important job to do.

Mr. Jermey Hudek stated I would like to talk to you about electric vehicles and the concerns about the maintenance due to the impact to the climate and Equitable Jobs Act and the Electric Vehicles Act. Governor Pritzker has stated that he has a goal to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road state wide by 2030. If that goal is reached, then I believe that the Motor Fuel Tax Revenue for the maintenance and roads and bridges could be decreased dramatically. Effecting construction time lines for future growth projects. I have heard that the new bridge on I-80 over the Desplaines River Bridge could be completed by 2029. If 800 electric vehicles are on the road by then then Illinois could have trouble paying their bills concerning this expensive project. I am here today asking the committee to start some sort of discussion about the impact of the Motor Fuel Tax Revenue due to the impact of more electric vehicles on the road. I feel if we need to push electric vehicles ownership to save the environment, then we need to look at other revenue alternatives concerning the maintenance of roads and bridges. Thank you very much.

A concerned citizen (not providing his name) I am just going to say what a lot of people here are thinking, and it pertains to what this meeting was all about, the Quick Take Process. I think it is going on 5 years now, the plans came out for what is happening on 143rd St. They said funding was available and we are starting this year. Then two weeks later they grounded resurfacing, the stuff that they told us is not starting yet. I feel this is why people don’t like government, we are getting jerked around and we’ve been getting jerked around for years about this project. Now, five years after they said funding was available you want to push quick take through, so we must fight for what we feel it is worth. You just take it and say here are a few bucks, we are starting. You took years to start acquiring this property, why do you need to quick take now? You should not be using quick take, you had years to be doing this. I’ve been here twenty years, and from twenty years ago you said it was going to get widened. Well, it is here, and we have been screwed around on this project, and now you are going to take it, this is why people hate government, and there is nothing that we can do about it.

XIV. ANNOUNCEMENTS/REPORTS BY CHAIR

Mr. Van Duyne stated I would just like to thank everybody for taking the time out of your day and coming in and giving us your opinion. A lot of times legislators must make decisions the best way we know how. When folks like you show up and give that opinion it leads us into making decisions that may help. Thank you everyone.

XV. EXECUTIVE SESSION

XVI. ADJOURNMENT

1. Motion to Adjourn @ 10:23 AM

RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Jim Richmond, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sherry Williams, Member AYES: VanDuyne, Richmond, Logan, Williams ABSENT: Costa

XVII. NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER 5, 2023

https://willcountyil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=15&ID=4658&Inline=True